


Keeping the Faith

by amitiel



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Loss, M/M, Missing someone, World of Ruin, Zine, Zine piece, coming to terms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:20:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27600614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amitiel/pseuds/amitiel
Summary: “Noctis is gone. He’s not coming back.”“The line of Lucis is dead.”“The darkness is the only thing we know, and it’s the only thing that will stay.”Prompto had heard those words so many times from countless people. It was the nature of the game right now, an inevitable opposition once they were plunged in eternal darkness.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia & Prompto Argentum & Noctis Lucis Caelum & Ignis Scientia
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	Keeping the Faith

“Noctis is gone. He’s not coming back.”

“The line of Lucis is dead.”

“The darkness is the only thing we know, and it’s the only thing that will stay.”

Prompto had heard those words so many times from countless people. It was the nature of the game right now, an inevitable opposition once they were plunged in eternal darkness. The world around them was not what they remembered, and fighting towards a future that wasn’t promised for anyone was difficult at best. Prompto kept fighting, kept holding onto the future and the hope that Noctis would one day return. 

Gladio and Ignis were a different story. Prompto knew that they were all fighting, working hard and doing whatever they could to protect the survivors. Each moment in darkness was a desperate grab for whatever they could hold onto. Now that Gladio and Ignis were separated, Prompto was constantly worrying about how they were managing in the darkness on their own. If he was with Gladio, then he worried about Ignis. If he was with Ignis, then he worried about Gladio.

Prompto knew they could hold their own. He knew they were strong enough to fight on their own in the darkness, even though Ignis was blind and Gladio was always so angry. What worried him was whether or not they could maintain their hope that Noctis would one day return. He worried that Ignis and Gladio would give up one day because they didn’t believe Noctis would return to them. His fears weren’t unfounded.

There were subtle indications that Ignis and Gladio were beginning to waver. It was in the way Ignis grimaced whenever Noctis was mentioned, as if he was thinking of an impossible future and was mourning his best friend and King. It was the way Gladio got angry anytime someone mentioned them returning to the light, betraying that his heart felt like the dawn would never come. It didn’t just distress Prompto for Ignis and Gladio to lose their faith that Noctis would one day return. Prompto despaired.

Despair was dangerous. Prompto was terrified to broach the topic of Noctis’s return with Gladio and Ignis, and it made him sloppy in his work. A few times he had stumbled through the darkness, nearly falling victim to several daemon attacks when he wasn’t being cautious enough. The worst was when he had nearly gotten someone else hurt on one of his rescue attempts. Ignis had been with him and picked up the slack, but Prompto was cursing himself for letting his own insecurities get to him. It was one thing to hurt himself. It was entirely another to endanger someone else.

“Prompto,” Ignis began as they returned to a well lit base camp. It was a gas station on the side of the road, heading for Lestallum. One of the few places that still had light. They were let in by the guards at the makeshift gate, standing in exhausted attention, looking for some sign of danger. They had to be cautious, ever wary that the next attack was only a breath away. Prompto was almost used to the fear now. Almost.

“I know, Iggy,” Prompto said with a sigh. His shoulders slumped, but he waved to the others at the station, keeping a brave face for others. The two hunters they had rescued were already having their wounds tended to by a medic. “What can I say? I got distracted.”

“You’ve been distracted for a while now,” Ignis pointed out, his voice hushed as they found a spot behind the gas station to speak privately.

Prompto slumped down on the ground, his elbows on his knees as he put his head in his hands. Couldn’t Ignis tell why he was distracted? His lack of faith in Noctis’s returning was starting to make Prompto waver, tearing him apart. Noctis was coming back. He had to come back. But if Ignis and Gladio didn’t believe, then who was he to disagree with them? After all, he was just a worthless clone. If those who were worthy of being by Noctis’s side didn’t believe in him, then who was he to believe?

“I miss him,” Prompto whispered, although he was sure Ignis could hear him. “I miss him and it hurts, Ignis.”

“We all miss Noct, Prompto,” Ignis replied as he sat down next to him. He let out a long sigh as he put his arm around Prompto’s shoulders and pulled him close. “But we must be strong to pave the way for his return.”

Prompto heaved a sob, his words escaping him before he had a chance to collect himself. Ignis waited for him patiently, letting him cry for his King. When Prompto had composed himself well enough, he sniffled and dried his eyes with the palm of his hands. “I thought you weren’t expecting Noct to come back.”

“What made you think that?” Ignis asked, the shock in his voice apparent. 

“Every time someone mentions Noctis, you grimace,” Prompto pointed out, suddenly feeling foolish. “Like you’ve lost hope that he’s coming back.”

“Oh, Prompto.” Ignis hugged him again, a small moment of comfort. “Of course I grimace. I miss him far too much. I think about what we have done and what he has to do, and my soul feels torn in two. I think about what has changed.. What he has missed... What has fallen apart…”

“Even when he comes back, nothing will be the same,” Prompto realized, his heart aching. “Do you think you and Gladio will ever reconcile?”

Ignis sighed, and Prompto knew that he hit a sore subject. “Gladio is very angry, Prompto. The last time he really spoke to Noctis, it wasn’t good. He blames himself, and he is working tirelessly to do what he can to ensure we are ready for his return.”

“How do you know that?” Prompto asked curiously, knowing that Ignis and Gladio hadn’t been in touch for a while now. Prompto had always been the go between for them, the one to keep them tenuously connected without Noctis. 

Ignis gave him a small hint of a smile. “We all know each other too well, whether we care to acknowledge it or not. It doesn’t matter if Gladio is on the other side of Eos. I know he is preparing for Noct’s return. We all are.”

Prompto nodded, letting Ignis’s words sink in as he tried not to feel so exhausted. It was terrifying that even just the thought of Ignis and Gladio losing hope that Noctis would return was enough to shake Prompto. He didn’t realize just how much he relied on them. At least not as far as his faith in Noctis was concerned. That was something he always thought was unshakeable by outside forces. 

Painfully, Prompto realized that his faith was what had been at stake the entire time. He felt a surge of guilt as he thought about how it was so easy for him to waver, to even consider that Noctis wouldn’t return. But that wasn’t the case, and Noctis would come back one day. Prompto reminded himself over and over again that Noctis would come back to them. They just had to be patient. They just had to wait and pave the way for his return.

“Noctis,” Prompto whispered his name like it was a prayer to the Six, that Noctis would hear him reaching out for his King to return. “Noctis, wherever you are, we’re hanging on. We’ll fight until the last breath.”

“We will,” Ignis affirmed. He turned his head towards the sky, a perpetual darkness that for once didn’t seem so damning.

Prompto looked up, feeling a wave of certainty wash over him for the first time in a long time. He could nearly feel Noctis there with them, as if they were at one of his favorite fishing spots, the calm breeze and the chirping crickets melding with summer heat. Prompto did the only thing he knew to do in that moment, when he was waiting for Noctis and had nothing else to do but miss him.

He took out his camera and looked at the photos he had taken over the years. As he did so, he described to Ignis what the photo was, both of them reminiscing about brighter times and a brighter future. Noctis was their light, and he would be able to bring Eos out of darkness once and for all. Until then they would wait. They would hold onto their faith, never let it waver, and trust that Noctis would return.

Noctis had promised. And more than anything, Prompto trusted Noctis. He would return. Prompto was certain, assured, hopeful. The darkness couldn’t take that from him. Not really. Until that time, Prompto would work hard to pave the way and drive the doubts away for everyone. It didn’t matter if he was a clone or a king. Noctis was counting on him, and he would wait.

Even if it took an eternity.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my contribution for the Lost in Wars zine. I am so honored to have it as my first zine. I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
